Palestinian broadcaster's equipment must be returned

The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by the
confiscation of equipment and archives belonging to the private Ramallah
broadcaster Wattan TV more than two months ago.

On February 29, Ministry of Communications officials and Israeli soldiers
seized
the station's transmitters, computers, files, and other equipment without
showing a warrant or giving an explanation. The equipment was funded in large
part by U.S. agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development
and the Middle East Partnership Initiative, a fund controlled by the U.S. State
Department.

The ministry continues to hold the equipment despite international
calls that it be returned. Wattan TV, which is the only independent television
station that broadcasts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, faces financial ruin if its equipment
is not returned.

Israeli authorities have asserted that Wattan TV was broadcasting
illegally and interfering with aircraft transmissions and other broadcast
frequencies. But Muamar Orabi, the station's general director, told CPJ that
Wattan TV had a broadcast license granted by the Palestinian Authority, which
could not have been issued without Israeli acquiescence. Orabi also said that
in 2004 he had registered the broadcast frequency with the International
Telecommunication Union, the U.N. agency for information and communication
technologies in Geneva.

The confiscation appeared to go well beyond issues related to broadcast
frequencies. Officials seized the broadcaster's entire news archive, footage,
servers, personnel records, computers, and personal laptops, according to
Orabi. CPJ has sought a fuller explanation for the raid from the communications
ministry, but spokesman Yechiel Shavi has declined to give details.

We urge you to return all seized equipment to Wattan TV immediately and allow
the station to resume operations without interference. Wattan, founded in 1996,
has established a well-known reputation for probing coverage of both
Palestinian and Israeli authorities. Its closure would be a profound loss to all
those seeking access to independent information.